Subsidiarity Man Wants A Word With You

By day, Richard Medić is a mild mannered spokesman for the Assembly of European Regions, but it is his alter-ego that has been making the news. As Subsidiarity Man, he has founded a movement to have the word subsidiarity included in all the world’s dictionaries, with the slogan, “Subsidiarity is a word”.

Subsidiarity Man being driven [...]

The Language of Politics

In the frequent war of words there is another conflict, often fought underground; the war against words. Specifically euro-jargon, the stock phrases of the polished eurocrat, the language that makes an ordinary sentence sound like it’s strangling itself.
All places have their own jargon, but in the European Union it seems to have become so popular [...]

Bill Clinton Leads the Charge for Change

The day after April Fools Day, President Bill Clinton arrived at the European Parliament, giving the keynote speech at the Global Progressive Forum, the gathering of the worldwide centre-left.
Other major speakers include Pascal Lamy and Howard Dean. This event was timed to coincide with the G20 and NATO summits, hoping to add to the momentum [...]

Printing in Tongues

Ever since Johannes Gutenberg started playing around with an olive press and discovered the modern printing process in 1439, Europe has been at the centre of the literary world.
Even today, the UK produces more new titles per year than either the US or China.
The European Commission has decided to capitalise on this literary legacy by [...]

After The Summit: It’s All Downhill

The European Policy Centre held an event to discuss their analysis of the European Council summit. Antonio Missiroli, Director of Studies, backed Barrosso’s view that it had been “a summit of delivery” and said that it had “managed to shape and show a united EU front on all the main issues on the agenda and [...]

Eurosceptics

With the approach of the 2009 European Parliamentary elections, there is growing concern that turnout will decline and the fortunes of eurosceptic parties will increase. But who are the Eurosceptics and what do they believe in?

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) advocate a withdrawal from the EU, replacing it with a free trade zone, not political [...]

Waltzing Without Bashir

The March 30th Arab Summit in Doha could be a little uncomfortable after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced his intention to attend, in defiance of the International Criminal Court’s warrant for his arrest.
However, it is almost certain that the visit will take place without incident, especially after Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal condemmed the ICC [...]